


Time Moves On

by LadyLace



Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Feels, Drama, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:46:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4381427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLace/pseuds/LadyLace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Crews we all know and love are rebels fighting in a war against the World Nobles, a group of so-called Celestials who rule viciously and tyrannically. Civilians are starving and hide away in the blow-up buildings of the past. Many live in fear of being moonlighted by the Guards, the Celestials' dogs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Moves On

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for a long ride, guys. Grab a tissue box and some snacks cuz this one HURTS. I'd say I'm sorry, but well. it hurt me too, so. My summary is slightly lame-ish... I'm working on that. For now, enjoy my various head canons and the back story!

**_ CHAPTER 1- The War _ **

**__ **

**_~ January 2, 2145 ~_ **

****

"I'll come back for you," the man with tanned skinned murmured quietly to his lover, "I promise."

 

The blond leaned back into the chamber and tried to keep himself from feeling claustrophobic, or worse: crying. The train was moving and they'd be discovered if they didn't all get in one, but if they were all separated... He didn't want to think about what would happen.

 

So he pulled in the swordsman for one last kiss, whispered goodbye, and said: "You better."

 

The man smiled and hugged the blond tightly. "I love you."

 

"I love you too." The blond closed his eyes as the door slid shut and the cold swept over him, freezing his body and putting him into cryostasis. 

 

**_> <><_ **

 

**_~ December 23, 2130 ~_ **

****

****

The start of the war began with a bang— literally. The Palace that more than 60% of Celestials resided in was blown to bits by a well-planted bomb. The origins of the bomb go unknown by most, but the Revolutionaries know. The Celestials and those allied with them know. In hindsight, the Celestials should have known better than to spite the slaves and servants that vastly outnumbered them, and they really, really should have known what murdering a whole bunch of them at once would do. Word that the Palace had been destroyed spread far and wide at the speed of lightning. Many rejoiced at the blatant attempt to overthrow the tyrannical nobles, others weeped at the impending war, and the Revolutionaries decided to make their move. 

 

But, that is a story for another time, first we must look to the past in order to divulge just  _who_ responsible for dealing such a huge blow to the arrogant, so-called monarchs.

 

_**** _

**_> <><_ **

****

 

**_~ March 2, 2124 ~_ **

****

“Oh, Jiro, isn’t he beautiful?” Himeko smiled brilliantly at her husband. Her blonde hair was slick with sweat and stuck to her face. Her blue eyes glowed as she held her brand new baby boy in her pale arms. 

 

“As beautiful as you, my love.” Jiro’s dark curls were tied back and his hazel eyes danced with merriment and love for his wife and newborn son. “We have a family, Himeko,” he grinned at her.

 

“Yes, yes we do.”

 

“Oh, I hope I’m not interrupting anything over here,” an identical face to Himeko chuckled in the doorway.

 

“Otohime! You’re here!” Himeko brightened from where she lay in bed.

 

“Yes, and I brought Fukaboshi with me to say ‘hi’.” A small boy with flowing blue hair and gills on his shoulders gripped his mother’s hand tightly. 

 

“Fukaboshi, this is your auntie and uncle. Can you say hi?” Otohime smiled down at her son.

 

The shark merman looked up at his mother and then at the man sitting next to his aunt’s bedside. “Is he human, mommy?” The six-year old hid behind his mother’s golden-orange tail in fear.

 

“Yes, dear, but you don’t have to be afraid of humans. Especially this one! Look how silly he looks!” Otohime laughed loudly. 

 

Fukaboshi smiled and then waved shyly. “Hi.” 

 

“Hello there, young man! You’re going to be my son’s friend aren’t you?”

 

“Yeah! He’s family! Even though he has two squishy tails.”

 

The three adults all burst out laughing and had to wipe tears from their eyes.  “Oh, Fukaboshi, he doesn’t have two tails. Those are  _legs_ , my child. He’s half-human.”

 

The shark merman frowned in confusion and looked up at his mother questioningly, “But, Ms. Pufferman said that humans and mermaids couldn’t have babies.”

 

“She’s partially right, you see it is extremely difficult, but it isn’t impossible.”

 

“Oh. Can I rub it in her face that my mommy is smarter than her?”

 

“No,” Otohime laughed again, “you can’t do that.”

 

“Awww…”

 

“I’m so happy you could make it, dear sister. How’s Neptune been treating you?” Himeko rocked the small baby in her arms.

 

“He treats me just fine, honey, you know that. I’ve got three kids already.” She put her hands on her hips and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

 

“Agh! Sister! That’s gross!”

 

Otohime chuckled and crossed the room to sit next to her younger sister and her husband. “Are you well, Himeko? I heard the pregnancy was quite difficult on you... the midwife told me the delivery almost killed you and the child.” The queen spoke in a hushed, worried tone.

 

The younger mermaid’s face fell as she looked down into her sleeping baby’s face. “Yes… that’s true, but I’m fine now, Otohime. Don’t worry, Jiro takes excellent care of me.” 

 

Otohime looks over at the human man holding his wife’s hand and petting her hair. “As he should.”

 

“Oh, sister…” The two women smiled warmly at each other. 

 

“We’ll all have to get together for a feast! A celebration in the honor of your son—” The queen trailed off. 

 

“Sanji,” Himeko murmured softly as she kissed the fuzzy head of her baby. “His name is Sanji.”

 

“‘Sanji’? I like it. From ‘Sanjiro’, right? After your husband?” Otohime smirked. 

 

Himeko blushed and looked away from her husband in embarrassment. 

 

Jiro laughed and hugged his wife. He kissed her face and lips and giggled into her shoulder some more. “I love you, my dear.”

 

“And I you,” she replied with a beautiful smile. 

 

“Ugh, it’s so mushy and lovey dovey in here!” Otohime teased her sister relentlessly, “Anyways. I’ll talk to Neptune about the party, alright? Fukaboshi and I should get going and leave you two lovebirds in peace.” 

 

The couple blushed simultaneously and were about to yell protests, but the queen merely waved her hand and guffawed at the troubles of her sister and her husband.

 

**_> <><_ **

****

**_~ May 4, 2127 ~_ **

 

News of the birth of the princess one month prior spread to all corners of the ocean and all friends and family were invited to the feast to be held in celebration. 

 

Himeko arrived carrying her toddler who had a spit-bubble forming in his mouth. Otohime immediately rushed to greet and the two embraced joyously. “Oh, it’s been too long, dear sister! We last saw each other during the party for your son’s one-month birthday! I’ve just been so busy with the campaign and the petition, I’m afraid I haven’t had much time to come and visit aside from birthday parties and the like.”

 

“Oh, it’s okay, I understand. Jiro has been looking for a job on the surface as a chef… but so far… we’re struggling to make ends meet, unfortunately.”

 

“Oh, no! You could have told me, Himeko! I’d gladly give you a place to stay or—” 

 

“No, no. You know I would never accept money from you, Otohime.” 

 

The queen looked dejected, but quickly came to terms with it and ushered her sister over to look at the drooling baby girl in the crib. 

 

“My goodness, Otohime, she’s huge! Is she a smelt-whiting?”

 

“Yes! Good eye as ever, sister. I think she gets it from Neptune’s side, don’t you? Did we have smelt-whiting mermaids in our ancestry?” The queen wondered aloud.

 

“Hm, no, I don’t think so. We were practically purebreds.” Himeko answered.

 

“Oh, yes, that’s right. I believe mother’s brother was a rainbow fish merman, wasn’t he?”

 

Himeko shrugged and bounced Sanji on her hip. “She’s cute as a button, regardless,  I can tell she’ll grow to be extremely beautiful.” Himeko frowned and looked seriously at her sister. “You’ll have to protect her, though, I sense a… a great and terrible power within her. You must be careful, Otohime.”

 

“Dear sister, you sound just like Shyarly!” The queen chuckled.

 

Himeko did not laugh, however. The elder goldfish mermaid stopped her giggling and then nodded her agreement. “Enough of this morbid talk! Tell me all about Jiro and Sanji!” Otohime changed the subject. 

 

The two sisters spoke for hours and hours about how big Sanji was getting and his first words and how the boy was already obsessed with the legend of All Blue and refused to sleep at night unless Himeko read him the story. “He’s an extremely picky eater!” The younger twin complained with a big smile on her face as Sanji played in the sand with Ryuboshi and Manboshi. 

 

Otohime titled her head back and laughed boisterously. “Oh, do tell!”

 

“Jiro has to blend all of his food, and don’t even get me started on what happens if the ingredients aren’t good quality. The boy spits out! It goes everywhere, I’m telling you! I have no idea how a three year old can possibly spit that far and that much at one time, but my goodness!”

 

They laughed and chatted until sundown when the festivities were slowing down and the three boys fell asleep on top of the sand castle they’d built. 

 

“This is a good family,” Himeko smiled gently at the three sleepy-heads. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” 

 

Otohime hugged her and they said goodbye for the night.

 

**_> <><_ **

 

**_~ June 17, 2129 ~_ **

****

****

“Eiji, listen to me! I have a five year old son— I have a  _wife_ ; a family now! You can’t pull this shit anymore!” 

 

“So, you’re saying you won’t give me money.”

 

“Damn it, Eiji, you know I don’t have any. It all goes to supporting my wife and child… I can’t afford to be giving you even a few dollars, Eiji, please understand. My boy is starting school soon.”

 

“Fine then. I guess I’m not as important to you as your  _other_ family,” Jiro’s younger brother scowled and shouted. 

 

Himeko held Sanji close to her tail, which had split a couple years ago and she could now hide on land, pretending to be a normal human with her family. Her skirt made it appear as if she was just a regular woman to Eiji.

 

 “You’re scaring Sanji,” Himeko growled protectively. 

 

“Oh, is the wee baby scared? Aw, how sad! Fucking shut up, you little brat!”

 

The blond boy shuddered and gripped his mama’s skirt tighter while hiding his face away from the scary man.

 

“Don’t talk to my son that way,” Jiro hissed angrily.

 

Eiji recoiled in shock. His brother had never spoken to him like that before.

 

The brunet grit his teeth, “Fine. I can see where I’m not wanted. I’ll leave.”

 

“I am sorry about this, Eiji, believe me. If there was something I could do… I would do it. You know that.” Jiro tried to grasp his brother’s shoulder, but Eiji yanked it out of his grip and scoffed.

 

“Right. Goodbye,  _brother_.” Eiji spat out. 

 

**_> <>< _ **

****

A loud banging came at their door early one morning the week after the incident with Eiji. Jiro stumbled from his bed and shuffled to the door with bleary eyes. He yawned and opened the door to see Eiji wringing his hands and looking like a nervous wreck.

 

“Eiji? What’s wrong?”

 

“You made me. You made me. I didn’t have a choice,” the brunet mumbled under his breath.

 

“What?” Jiro scraped the eye buggers from the corners of his eyes and stared at his younger brother.

 

“… I’m sorry,” Eiji said finally, “that it had to be like this.” 

 

“What? What are you talking about, Eiji?”

 

“… The P.E.S.O. … has paid me quite well for the information I’ve provided.” 

 

“‘P.E.S.O.?’ What…?” Jiro mentally scrolled through lists in his head that he could remember, but PESO wasn’t ringing a bell. 

 

Eiji grimaced and looked away in shame. “I guess I know why it felt like you were hiding something from me.” 

 

Jiro froze and the blood drained out of his face. “Eiji, what did you do?”

 

“…”

 

“EIJI!”

 

“. . . I told them.” 

 

Jiro felt ill and started gasping for air. “Why… Why would you do that?!”

 

Himeko had heard the yelling from the bedroom and appeared behind Jiro with a robe on. “Jiro, love, what’s going on?”

 

“He told them,” Jiro whispered. His voice cracked with misery and he looked at his beloved wife in despair. His eyes were filling with tears and hopelessness.

 

Himeko opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her face twisted in anguish and she glared furiously at Eiji. “How could you?!” She screamed. “He’s your brother! He would  _never_ have done this to you!” She pointed a finger at his face. “Leave!” She screeched hysterically, “And don’t you dare ever show your face to us again!” 

 

He held his hands up, “I came to warn you. They’re coming tomorrow.” 

 

“GET OUT!” The couple shouted at him. Eiji listened and took off running. 

 

“What— what do we  _do_?” Himeko held her face in her hands and collapsed to the floor. 

 

“We have to call your sister—” 

 

“I’ll get her on the phone right now.” Himeko stood up with renewed vigor and reached for the phone. She dialed the number and waited for what seemed a lifetime.

 

_“Hey, little sister! What’s up?”_

“Otohime,” Himeko practically sobbed into the receiver.

 

_“What’s wrong? What’s happened? Are you okay?”_

“Jiro’s brother… he… he somehow…”

 

_“What? Is everyone alright?”_

“No…” Himeko cried openly, “Eiji told the Human Auctioning House about us.” 

 

There was silence on the other end of the phone.  _“Shit. How long do you have?”_  


“Until tomorrow, we hope.” 

 

_“You don’t know? Just leave everything behind, Neptune and I will replace it all later if needed. Your safety is first! Grab Sanji and hop onto the next ship down here.”_

“Oto… I— I’m so scared…”

 

_“Get down here as soon as you can, and everything will be alright. Go to Sanji’s crib, pick him up, and run like crazy to a ship. It’ll be ok.”_

Himeko nodded. “I need to hear your voice so… so don’t hang up, ok?”

 

  
_“Ok.”_ The queen replied gently. 

 

“Promise?”

 

  
_“I promise,”_ The queen assured her sister softly. 

 

Himeko carried the mobile phone with her and went to Sanji’s crib. She picked him and placed him on her hip where she kept kissing his chubby cheeks and hugging his small body. Jiro came in behind her and wrapped his arms around them both. “I love you both so much. Himeko, we have to go.”

 

A sound like splintering wood reached their ears and then malicious cackles filled the air. The breath caught in their throats. Jiro whispered as quietly as he could into his wife’s ear. “I love you. Take Sanji out the back.” 

 

“Jiro!” She cried out in a hushed whisper as her husband exited the room to face the intruders. They should have known that Eiji was lying.  She held back her sobs and cradled her toddler to her chest and quickly left out the back door and started running away as fast as her “legs" could carry her. Her tears flowed freely, and she had to stop for just a moment to catch her breath. She heard a gunshot from the house and felt her heart break into a million pieces. “Jiro,” she sobbed, “Jiro.” 

 

_“HIMEKO?!”_

The blonde finally heard the screaming voice directed at her and she started walking to the docks. She tried to speak, but only ended up crying harder. Finally, once she could see the docks in sight, she collapsed to the ground and whispered in a broken sentence, “He lied. Eiji lied. They came. They shot… sh-shot… Jiro… Jiro is—is— dead.” 

 

Himeko stood up on her shaky, split tail and hobbled further in the direction to safety. “If I don’t make it, Oto, make sure Sanji is alright. You’ll take care of him for me, won’t you?”

 

_“Don’t say stuff like that, Hime. You’re going to make it. You have to, for Sanji.”_

“Yeah…” A hollow laugh escaped her lips and she cradled her son to her tighter.

 

“There she is!” A voice yelled from the distance. Himeko turned around and paled. 

 

“No, no, no, no…” 

 

_“Hime?! Himeko?!”_

“NO! STAY AWAY! GET BACK! SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP!”

 

_“HIMEKO?!”_

Himeko ran down the banks and dodged in between the groves of trees. She ran and ran and finally a boat ready to dive was at the dock.

 

“Wait!” She hollered. “PLEASE WAIT! Take me with you! I BEG YOU PLEASE! DON’T LEAVE!”

 

“Momma…?” Sanji rubbed his eyes awake.

 

“Oh, sweetie, momma loves you so much, okay? Don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever forget about All Blue or your daddy or me, okay? Mommy loves you, baby. WAIT! PLEASE!” She screamed as loud as she could at the men on the ship.

 

Someone turned around and saw her waving like a madwoman and told the men to stop. “Somethin’ the matter, ma’am?” He yelled back.

 

“YES! Please, you have to help us! We need to go down to Fishman Island, please!”

 

The man seemed to consider it for a minute and then shouted, “Sure! Hop aboard!”

 

“Thank you! Oh my god, thank you so much!” Himeko hurried toward the plank leading onboard and suddenly felt the air leave her lungs. She coughed up blood and shielded Sanji from the flying bullets with her body. She held on tight to her family and was oblivious to the screams of agony of her sister on the other line. Her vision blurred at the edges and she knew she was dying. “Don’t… don’t take him… save him…” She pleaded to whoever could hear her. “Love you, Sanji… Be… be a good boy… for mama?” 

 

Her breath shuddered to a halt and she put a smile on her face for the only child that had had a chance to be born. 

 

_“Himeko? HIMEKO, oh my god, please answer me! Are you alright?!”_

“Sayonara… Oto…”  _I’ll be joining you soon, Jiro D. Mer, my love._  


Her eyes slipped close and her heart came to a halt with that smile still on her face. 

 

 

 

**TBC**


End file.
